


against the dying of the light

by huntressed



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 11:23:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huntressed/pseuds/huntressed
Summary: England looked absolutely horrible. Filled with cries of the undead, the feasting of the Infected upon the dead people who have suffered their ill-gotten fates. Victoire found this a little disturbing, but she had to accept it, or else she’d be stuck in a rut somewhere, trying to figure out why the fuck the world had turned out to be this way.Teddy and Victoire during the Zombie Apocalypse.





	against the dying of the light

ENGLAND IS NOT EXACTLY AS FLATTERING as it was back in the day. Before, people could see the culture of multiple people thriving off each corner. There was the queen and the rest of her blue-blooded family. The Big Ben and the London Eye were standing in all its glory, attracting tourists from whichever part of the world they came from.

                But now, England looked absolutely horrible. Filled with cries of the undead, the feasting of the Infected upon the dead people who have suffered their ill-gotten fates. Victoire found this a little disturbing, but she had to accept it, or else she’d be stuck in a rut somewhere, trying to figure out why the fuck the world had turned out to be this way.

                There’s a fire alit in front of her, a fire from a house they broke into. She didn’t even know who owned this house, or if the owner was a fellow survivor – but if she did, she would have thanked them for allowing her and Teddy to use their house even for just a little while.

                The outbreak started just a little over last year. Victoire was celebrating her twenty second birthday with her best friend Teddy, and that was when they heard multiple screams from the outside of the building they were in. At the time, zombie outbreaks were vastly unpopular. People would never believe any scientist who presented the theory regarding zombies – to everyone, they were just a myth. People couldn’t exactly rise up from the dead and eat brains, it’s impossible.

                However, everyone was proven wrong when the second of May came. Even Victoire herself didn’t want to believe it at first, but how could she deny it when people are being eaten alive right in front of her own eyes? The memory of Teddy dragging her to some parked car and hotwiring it within five minutes was very vivid in her head. It really was a day she could never forget.

                “It’s been a year.” She spoke, her gaze fixated on the steady fire in front of them. “We still don’t know if our families are alive.”

                Teddy looked distant, a face he always pulled whenever he’s thinking of something. Victoire couldn’t quite reach him, not even with a gentle reminder that they’ve been alone together for a year already. It was to her wishes that Teddy didn’t try to find other survivors; Victoire didn’t like the thought of sharing all their supplies to anyone else – to her, any other extra mouths to feed that weren’t her family will drag them down. But then again, just the two of them can get a little bit lonely at times.

                A few days after the outbreak, Victoire went back to her parents’ home; looking for her siblings. Much to her dismay, the house was empty but untouched. It was as if it had been locked even before the outbreak started. Victoire cried in her best friend’s arms for hours before writing up a note using her stationeries from her old bedroom, stating that she had been there in the house and she took up some of the supplies for her and Teddy’s survival. They left a few hours after with Victoire locking the house up with all her might – she didn’t want other survivors taking her home as a refuge, as hypocritical as it may be.

                They tried to find Teddy’s grandmother, and failed. They tried to find Teddy’s godfather and Victoire’s aunt and cousins, and they failed yet again. It was a cycle for the rest of their family members that they tried to find – a never ending cycle of failure which they had to accept. They have very different viewpoints regarding the matter; for Victoire, they’re dead until they’re found alive. For Teddy, they’re alive until they’re found dead.

                It’s much easier for her to accept if she had ingrained it into herself that they’re dead. It would be easier for her to move on and to just accept until she’s proven wrong. But for Teddy, it was different. He wanted to believe in them being alive so much, that it became taboo for them to ever talk about the possibility of one of their family members dying. Little did he know that they’re all already dead to her.

                Beliefs like that worried her even before she reached the age of adulthood. She hated false hopes – in fact, she despised them. The harsh truth was much better for her than to believe something that never had a sliver of truth within them.

                “It’s Molly’s birthday today.” The sound of Teddy’s voice dragged her out the confines of her thoughts. His statement caught her off guard and she couldn’t grasp enough words to respond to him. So she settled for just wrapping her arms around his torso and leaning her head against his shoulder.

                One of his hands found hers and their fingers interlocked, something they’ve always done whenever they’re trying to gain strength from each other. “I know what you’re thinking, Victoire. She’s not dead. She’s probably off somewhere bossing the people she’s with while demanding them to find a birthday cake out of humor.” He sighed, “I wish we’d find them sooner.”

                The thought of her cousin bossing out people somewhere did give her some kind of hope that it might be real – but her conscious mind instantaneously denied it. If Molly was alive, she would have contacted her and Teddy already. Molly was resourceful and was the most intelligent one out of all her cousins. If she was alive, she would have shown a sign of being so already.

                Out of respect for Teddy, though, Victoire didn’t talk. She just sat there with her head on his shoulder, hoping that it would be enough to give him comfort for the day.

                It had been a few days since she last killed a zombie, an unfortunate day as well for she had to make do with a crowbar. Personally, Victoire preferred to kill them from a distance, using a gun which she aims to the head of the Infected. The thought of using blunt force was too much for her to handle at times – but then again, sometimes you can’t really choose the way you had to survive.

                There were nightmares since then. Images of her family taking the place of the zombie she beat to death with a crowbar, sometimes she’d scream in her sleep and Teddy had to wake her up just so she wouldn’t draw attention to their current location. He’d ask her what she dreamed about, Victoire wouldn’t answer.

                Reliving the experience with the face of her family members is hard enough; she couldn’t bear to tell him anything especially when she knew that it would only worsen her sleeping experiences. It nauseated her, made her feel like she was a monster for only trying to survive. Victoire was brave, but not brave enough to accept the fact that this was what they had to do.

                “It’s also five days before Christmas.” Victoire whispered, her head still resting on her best friend’s shoulder.

                “We should have a feast.” Teddy suggested with grin lighting up his face. When she looked at him, she remembered what it felt like without all the Infected trying to come for their lives every single day. Victoire laughed as she followed Teddy from when he stood up.

                “I don’t think there are any Christmas stores out there that aren’t filled with zombies.”

                “We’ll find a way.” Teddy’s grin grew wider and before they knew it, their bags were packed and they were inside the pick-up truck they found for about five months ago.

                Throughout the drive, Teddy kept the windows open – something he never does whenever they’re going out to find supplies – and he was singing to some old the 1975 song that had fairly vulgar lyrics. Victoire couldn’t help but to laugh. Despite the situation at hand, he still managed to regain some of his youthful recklessness. But she doesn’t miss the way his pistol seemed to be nearer than him than most trips.

                “We’ll never be able to replicate your grandma’s apple pie, though. Is that okay with you, Vic?” He asked before making the final turn he has to make in order to reach the city.

                “It’s not that big of a deal. I think any pie would be close enough to bear resemblance to grandma’s pie.” Victoire shrugged, nostalgia would be hitting her any time now. But she decided to grab on to one of the pistols in the dashboard, strapping it carefully in the holster on her right thigh.

                “It’s the thought that counts, right?” He confirmed, to which Victoire only chuckled.

                They pulled up just in front of a grocery store. Most supplies usually have gone expired by now and it’s better to just survive at some point in the wilderness, but some foods are still a few months short of their expiration dates. Those were the ones Victoire and Teddy are trying to get; they could find the rest of their supplies from gathering herbs in the forest near one of their safe houses.

                “You know the drill, right?” He asked, his face suddenly becoming dark. It was always like this, whenever they had to split up for supplies. If one of them got bitten, the other one has to shoot and run.

                Victoire never wanted to split up since the start, the thought of losing Teddy was unbearable and he’s her only source of strength, especially now that the rest of her family is dead. She wanted to be there with him every single time because she didn’t know when an Infected could sneak up on him and bite him. She wanted to be there with him so if that ever happened, she’d be able to kill the Infected planning on taking him away from her.

                But then she’d already agreed to his terms.  So split up they did.

                Every minute she spent in the goddamn grocery store felt days. Looking at cans of food with their expiration dates and looking at packets of flour and every other product that could be salvaged. Victoire left the ones she felt like she doesn’t really need, travelling light was not an option. She had learned that the hard way after an Infected got a little too close to biting her when she carried a shit ton of supplies. Victoire couldn’t remember a single day where she didn’t relive this as well.

                No one ever said how much trauma and nightmares apocalypses can hold. Rare were the nights where she could sleep properly without thinking of the lives she took in order to survive, or the ones where she was so close to meeting her own end. These thoughts were mostly repressed during the day where she shared her usual banter with Teddy, but then they show up during the night and she found herself curling up against Teddy’s warmth.

                She was aware that he had his repressed demons too. She knew how he tried to find alternative ways of surviving without having to kill any of the Infected. While Teddy had been flawlessly killing these… creatures for their survival, it didn’t mean that he doesn’t feel a responsible for every single death he’d caused. Victoire knew him ever since they were little; it hurt her to finally accept this observation. She couldn’t bear to see Teddy hurt himself that way.

                But then again, they were both broken. Each one broke as hard as the other one ever since the Outbreak happened; it just so happened that they broke in different ways.

                The grocery store was suspiciously quiet. Victoire took every supply she had with caution – careful not to make any noise, careful not to draw any attention to her, careful not to get killed.

                It was a bitter reality she didn’t had enough time to digest. She was forced into this world filled with people who are infected in some kind of virus that couldn’t be cured. She had to kill these people in order to survive – and while they’re not really people anymore seeing as they’re all reverted to their most primal and animalistic instincts, they still had a life. She wasn’t really sure if she could deal with this all when everything finally piles up.

                Being a biology student, she knew that such a virus like that would have to be _made_ to target only specific sections of the brain through the olfactory system. It would only ruin areas of the brain such as the frontal cortex, the amygdala, and the ventromedial hypothalamus. After which, would render the victim hungry and it would only reduce a person to their most primal instincts – to feed.

                There’s a certain emphasis on the word _made_ when it came to the theory she knew, it’s simply not possible for such a highly evolved virus to exist. She was wrong though, and so is the rest of the world. For the virus already existed, buried in thick layers of permafrost in the arctic region that by the time the heat melted out the ice, the virus went from dormant to rampant. It had evolved shortly after the layer of ice was melted and soon enough, people are turning into zombies.

                Media didn’t provide enough information from this as the disease had spread rather quicker than expected. In a matter of two months, information was hard to come by, but they were there. No theories on how the virus came to be, though, or how it was first transmitted to its first victim – just vague updates on how the world was coping and when the government would drop down supplies to the suburbs of London. The last news Victoire had heard was that the royal family was transported to a safe house in an island somewhere near England.

                How lucky were they to have enough people giving their lives up for their protection while the rest of England was falling to its knees? Victoire didn’t know if the virus had reached every single country in the world, but her thoughts were screaming of how bloody likely it would be for the vast majority of the world to be affected. Right now, she wished she was the damn princess of England.

                By the time the desired amount of supplies to take was reached, Victoire immediately set off for her and Teddy’s rendezvous point. Conveniently, it was just a few meters away from her. But what got her surprised was the fact that there’s an Infected standing there, just standing there with its head bent down to one side and its arms limp at its side.

                Her fight or flight instincts kicked in and she found herself breathing heavily. Gunning the Infected up would risk their lives, but she’d no crowbar this time. While the store offered enough resources, she figured there’s not much time. With little to no noise at all she spotted a fire extinguisher from across the room, and she walked towards it as quietly as she could with plans of just dropping the goddamn thing to the Infected’s head.

                The cold metal of the fire extinguisher met her shaking hands as she walked to where the rendezvous point was. She took a deep breath, approaching the creature from behind – she didn’t dare think of the Infected as a person who once had a life, a family, or maybe a best friend just as she had Teddy; she only had one purpose, and that is to get rid of this Infected before it kills her or Teddy.

                Before she could deliver the blow that could kill the creature, someone had covered her mouth from behind and pulled her back. She would have retaliated if it weren’t for Teddy’s signature perfume making its way to her nose. She turned around.

                “I could have killed that thing!” She whispered, looking back to see if the Infected moved an inch. Thankfully though, it didn’t – they were safe for the time being.

                “Not today. We can escape through the fire exit, I found it.” He pulled her away from the area but Victoire pulled his hand away.

                She was met with a questioning glance from Teddy; it wasn’t the type of glance signaling his annoyance. Teddy had always been soft; it’s a distinguishing trait that he’d shown throughout his twenty five years of existence. In such a cruel world, he managed to still have a heart of gold. Something Victoire admired so very much. 

                “What if there are ones there too?”

                “We’ll find a way.” He pressed a kiss on her forehead before locking their fingers once more. She allowed herself to be pulled to where the fire exit was, and she found that it was a narrow squeeze within the grocery store’s supply room. Teddy was smiling when he held up a box filled with supplies.

                Victoire only chuckled, “I thought we were supposed to travel light?”

                “It’s Christmas, Vicky. We’re allowed to splurge a little bit on Christmas.”

                The blonde rolled her eyes before moving out of the fire escape with Teddy, she subconsciously took the gun strapped on her thigh as they made their way towards the pick-up truck.

                However, they were met with a disconcerting sight: their vehicle was surrounded by a group of six zombies. Guns were effective, but then again the thought of their guns alerting more of the Infected was quite a risk to take. But Victoire didn’t want to fight another one up close, it would haunt her.

                “We fire at three.” She breathed out, taking the lead for this one. The authority in her voice made her best friend straighten up as he dropped the box of supplies and reached for the shotgun slung across his back.

                Victoire looked at him and motioned for him to switch weapons with her. He gave her a questioning look, asking if she was sure, to which she responded with a curt nod. As soon as she got her hands on the loaded shotgun, she fired immediately. Teddy followed afterwards, firing off with the pistol that was originally hers. Within a few minutes, all of the Infected were dead. The blonde nodded before the two broke off into a run towards the pick-up truck. Like always, it was unlocked and all Teddy had to do was to turn the key in the ignition and drive.

                “They probably thought we’re going to give them some stuff from our celebration.” Teddy mused, an obvious attempt at keeping everything so light.

                “Too bad for them we don’t share.” Victoire responded, a light grin spreading across her features as she snacked on a _probably expired_ chocolate she picked up from one of the shelves. Diarrhea can go fuck it; Victoire will have her chocolate for now.

                Laughter came from the driver’s side of the car and Victoire looked at Teddy with a smile. His smile sounded magical, as if they never had to face multiple obstacles in order to survive. It’s almost as if they were never really broken – like they never had to fully sacrifice a lot of their happiness in favor of survival.

                “Right you are, princess Victoire.” He told her speeding up as they ventured towards Cornwall where Victoire’s childhood home resided. They’d agreed on going back there once they’ve gathered their supplies. Teddy told her he missed the sea, and Victoire found herself agreeing, not realizing that she hasn’t had the chance to see the ocean in months despite rendering it as her first love.

                They siphoned enough gas last week to last them a month with light travels. This would be the longest distance they need to travel for the time being, gas was rather sparse and resources were already running way too low. Their safe house would have to be Victoire’s childhood home.

                While Victoire felt heartbroken that she’d have to be surrounded by remnants of her dead family, she needed to just be there. She needed to feel the ocean, and the familiarity that her own childhood home presented.

Teddy had done this before in his grandmother’s place a few months ago, he kept on suggesting on doing the same for her. Initially, she didn’t want to; unwilling to be reminded of the family she’d lost – but now felt like a good time as any. It was Christmas, and she was craving for any other form of happiness.

                Happiness was a luxury, nowadays. Mostly it was just them with their wandering thoughts and desperate touches in order to feel whole again. At night they would lay awake beside each other – her head on his shoulder and his arm around her – looking at the distance without any words.

                Although they would never admit to it, both are in a constant state of needing strength to carry on. Without Teddy, Victoire would have been moving all too robotically for her liking. She probably wouldn’t even have the strength to actually _survive with hope_ (because even if she didn’t want to administer false hope onto herself, she still has it) and it’s such a harsh knowledge she never wanted to think about.

                Her blue eyes settled for looking at Teddy. He used to be a little boy who enjoyed playing hide and seek, and placing flowers on her ear. Victoire watched him grow up to the point that she had forgotten that she was growing up too. He used to be this lanky boy who loved playing football – not because he gets to kick balls or look cool, but because he could play with others who like the same thing as him – and a few years passed and he became this golden boy everybody loved, with ever changing hair and loud fashion statements, Teddy Lupin was that popular boy everyone couldn’t get enough of.

                He’s really talented too, he had a band for the vast majority of uni days before he graduated and they played enough gigs to attract small-time record producers. This happened while he’s taking a degree on Art.

                Victoire looked at him with admiration, something she had done ever since they were little. He’d always been this ray of light that made her feel as if she can do absolutely anything in the world. From the way he’d hold her hand, to the way he looked at her; it felt like they were invincible. She wanted to put her arms around him badly at the moment.

                “You’re staring at me, Vic.” He stated. The blonde’s face heated up; a light blush forming on her cheeks.

                “Sorry, you look a little distracting.” This was true in every sense. Teddy looked like a goddamn rock star with his sunglasses and his elbow propped on the open window. Her heart skipped a few beats when she took in the view.

                “I’m afraid I can’t turn that off, love.” He smiled; a cheeky one at that.

                “Maybe it’s the sunglasses,” Victoire suggested, “let me take it off for you.” And she reached out for his sunglasses, removing the frame from his eyes and placing it on her own. “How do I look?”

                The car slowed down when he looked at her, _cautious driver,_ Victoire thought. Victoire had always been a reckless driver. She would speed whenever there are no officers around, or whenever she’s driving by country sides in the middle of the night. Some nights, Teddy would join her; but most of the time, she was alone.

                Teddy’s looking at her in a way she couldn’t quite figure out. There’s something in his gaze that’s so unlike any other look he’d given her before, it made her heart beat faster and it felt like it was going to combust.

                “Absolutely stunning,” He answered, touching her cheek before going back to driving along the country side with a speed that could almost rival hers.

                A feeling settled deep inside her chest, she didn’t really know if it was that of contentment or happiness or a feeling of both. But she was a hundred percent sure that she’d never want to replace this moment inside her head. Never mind all the Infected and the virus possibly spreading all over the Earth, she had Teddy and she’s good with that.

                That epiphany was cut short, however, when they came across a group of the Infected by the road. They were feasting on probably some poor survivor who only wanted to have a chance at life. Victoire gave Teddy a concerned glance.

                “We’ll drive past them. Fast enough for them to never chase us.” He suggested.

                It seemed like a good idea, but then again the Infected had grown faster overtime. They’ve developed sharper teeth, too. They’ve evolved, just like any other living being – only they evolved faster than the rate a normal person would. Victoire shuddered at the thought of what they could be like after another year (if she survived, that is).

                “Let me drive.” Victoire told him, “Between the two of us, I’ve always been the one to have the guts to drive past speed limits. We’ll need that right now.”

                Teddy only nodded, scrutinizing the small horde of the Infected in front of them. “You’re right, let’s switch.”

                When Victoire was finally situated in the driver’s seat, she glanced at Teddy. The latter nodded curtly before loading up the pistols with bullets. Victoire looked at him and realized that they both had grown way too much in a span of just a single year. What used to be just a twenty two year old uni student and twenty five year old photographer, turned to people who barely even flinch as they shoot up decomposed people with a deadly virus.

                Bullets were fired as soon as Victoire’s foot hit the gas pedal. She floored it this time, not paying attention to how fast she was going. Her gaze was kept on the road for one wrong move would have them falling down the cliffs and into the sea; while that would have been quite a nice death for someone who’s in love with the ocean, she wasn’t ready to die just yet.

                Teddy always had good aim, and he wasn’t one for wasting bullets loaded in the chambers. He shot down those Infected without any difficulty, with every bullet shooting straight through the head of the Infected. The creatures fell to the ground but then Victoire noticed something different about the Infected. She immediately stepped on the brakes before she could run over an Infected’s body.

                “Something’s different, Teddy.” She brought up, stepping out of the truck and meeting the cold crisp air of the country side. While she could smell the sea, it didn’t make her go back to the pick-up truck. Her curiosity got the best of her as she went to the Infected closely, the sight was usually disgusting and disturbing, but it had no effect on her whatsoever.

                Her ears picked up on the sound of the car door opening and closing; Teddy followed her.

                “What’s wrong?” There was concern and a hint of fear in his voice – she never dared to point those out, though.

                “These Infected, they’re different. Do we have anymore latex gloves left from when we raided the labs?”

                “Yeah, they’re somewhere in the car. I’ll go get them for you.” And he hurried off to the car, leaving her alone with the group of dead Infected once more.

                When they died Victoire noticed how their bodies were slowly losing the foul odor, the necrosis has ceased and the skin seemed to be returning back to their original state. Cell reproduction was speeding up, until it’s just gone. She never went close enough to an Infected to witness it die, but situation at the moment made her realized how she should have done it before.

                This was something she’d never seen before, and as much as she wanted to examine this further, she couldn’t with the lack of facilities and equipment. While she could come back to the labs in Oxford, she was a hundred percent sure that examining them wouldn’t do much good.

                Teddy arrived with the gloves shortly and Victoire made a quick examination of the dead Infected’s body. While their teeth had been elongated into large fangs, the rest of their body seemed to be replacing all the dead cells caused by necrosis, while remaining dead still. It’s nothing she’s ever seen before.

                “They’ve evolved. And certainly their bodies are rejecting the virus after they died. The virus died along with the host and now the remaining living cells are rejuvenating, it’s not enough to restore their living selves, though. They’re still dead.” She’d told Teddy, discarding the gloves and placing it beside the Infected.

                “Do you think they can be cured?” Teddy asked, running his hands through his hair.

                “No. Neurons couldn’t be replaced and with my guess, their brains are already defective in some areas, hence the reason why their only instinct is to feed. They’re as good as dead.” With that, Victoire went back to the driver’s seat.


End file.
